Florida School Shooting Confirms MCPS Focus on School Security

There has been another school shooting, this time at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

After the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, MCPS Communications Director Hatton Littman said the newly built and remodeled schools had student and teacher safety as their highest priority, when Dr. Alex Apostle was the superintendent.

“Dr. Apostle was deeply concerned, and started a facilities safety and security committee,” Littman said. “That committee made recommendations for physical safety in our buildings, as well as procedures that we could do to keep kids safe, and that work has been carried out with help of the passage of our bond in 2014.”

Littman said the school entrances have been redesigned for maximum safety..

“Paxson, Rattlesnake, Lowell and Franklin elementary schools now have newly configured entryways, and every new school that is undergoing renovation or construction will receive the same treatment,” she said. “Now, our new entryways include a welcoming area for guests. They can sign in and be welcomed by the principal or the secretary on duty, and then there’s a set of locked security doors in between that front area and the classrooms.”

Littman said even further security protocols are in the works as remodeling and construction continue.

"All of our buildings will get card-key access systems that will allow staff to enter and exit the buildings with the security card key," she said. "As each building is completed, that new system will also be installed. We're also installing security camera systems in all our buildings.”

Littman said the district hopes to have all the construction completed, including the Jeannette Rankin Elementary School, by the end of 2020.